Chinese internet surveillance boss arrested for bungs

A top Chinese censor has been arrested over suspicions he took millions in bribes to help a local anti-virus firm to crush a competitor.

Yu Bing, head of the internet monitoring department of Beijing's Municipal Public Security Bureau, allegedly took RMB 40m ($5.8m) in backhanders from Rising to frame criminal charges against an executive at its competitor, Micropoint Technology. A vice president of Rising has also been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the failed plot, Wiredreports.

Yu's role in a department that monitored email and web usage in China put him in prime position to plant evidence suggesting that Micropoint Vice President Tian Yakui was distributing malware and hacking into systems in order to swipe trade secrets.

Tian spent almost a year behind bars before being exonerated. Meanwhile, Micropoint efforts to launch a product were grounded.

Micropoint, which was founded by former Rising execs including Yu, is planning to launch a RMB 30m ($4.3m) lawsuit against Rising, which denies any wrongdoing.

More on the developing story can be found in reports collated by the China Digital Times here. ®